


Kywi hanahaki AU

by Jane_Dorocak



Series: PH hanahaki AU [1]
Category: Purple Hyacinth (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Hanahaki Disease, Idiots in Love, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pining, Tags Edited, Unrequited Love, i think..., people throwing up flowers but nothing too explicit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:42:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24473737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jane_Dorocak/pseuds/Jane_Dorocak
Summary: Will always said Kym would be the death of him.Kym would laugh at the irony if her flower-filled lungs would allow her too.
Relationships: William Hawkes/Kym Ladell
Series: PH hanahaki AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767712
Comments: 25
Kudos: 57





	1. Chapter 1

Kym Ladell.

Twenty-one years old.

A Sergeant of the eleventh precinct.

And currently on verge of dying. For more reasons than one.

The first, rather obvious was the copious amount of paperwork mounting on her desk.

Kym groaned.

Really this was the worst.

 _No_ , she corrected herself, _the worst_ was that besides her usual work she had to spy on her coworkers on orders of that prick Hermann.

No, wrong again. The worst part was that she had to spy on them _with William Hawkes_.

It wasn't that she hated William per se. However, he could be really irritating sometimes - with all his overbearing perfectionism, hardworking attitude, soft voice, perfect angelic face...

She felt the scratching in the back of her throat and coughed.

"Again, Ladell?" William's voice brushed by her ears, making her jump up. He stood right behind her, she didn't notice him coming though.

She gave him a sheepish look.

"Just my allergy for this paperwork," she replied throwing her head back dramatically with her eyes closed, a hand placed on her forehead in a pathetical gesture.

"I told you it's getting worse and worse with each report. Have mercy on me, Williame, make a stop to my suffering."

Will just rolled his eyes at her.

"Just finish your work," he muttered.

"It might help with that allergy of yours."

And with that, he walked away to talk to Lila.

Kym let out a small breath of relief.

That was close.

She looked down into her palm. Several yellow petals, small and delicate. They looked almost playful if they weren't drenched in sticky red liquid.

Her blood.

She stared at the petals for a moment, then quickly wiped them into her pants. Later.

She'd deal with this later.

She'd been telling that to herself basically since the symptoms started.

First, there was coughing. A sore throat that just wouldn't go away, unpleasant shortness of breath whenever she ran or did any physical exercise really, even when there was nothing before.

She promised herself to go to the doctor, but she never really got around to do it. She was finally about to go when she started to cough up blood. Blood and flowers.

When she first saw the petals in her hand, she thought she was dreaming.

She must have been. The only reason why she'd cough up flowers was hanahaki and that disease only targeted people unlucky enough to be in one-sided love.

And that couldn't be her case.

No.

No, no, no.

No.

There was _noooo_ way. She was Kym Ladell, the prankster extraordinaire, the watermelon queen, the best goddamn shot in the whole precinct, the terror of William Hawkes. She _did not_ do falling in love, especially not with tall blond gentle young men who happened to look good in uniform and got always riled up by her antics…

_Oh, wait._

Yeah, she almost forgot. She was in love with the guy basically from the moment they first met.

_Well, shit._

Still why now of all the times? Why not sooner? She's been in love with him for more than a year now. And why at all when we're at it? This thing was as rare as a man that would not call Lauren's eyes pensive. _Why her of all people?_

Not that it mattered. What mattered was _how to get out of it_.

Kym might have had very poor knowledge of general medicine, but even she knew there were just two ways how to cure hanahaki.

First, there was the confession. Of course, if the cause of your problems is the feeling of unrequited love slowly turning into flowers in your lungs, the best way to go about it is to confess those feelings. And have them accepted. Right. A small _minuscule_ detail.

Kym scoffed. Yeah sure. How would she even go about it?

_Hey, Will, so I have a crush on you, and it kind of kills me?_

_Will, do you like? Why do I ask? Well, you see I like you and I'm sort of dying because of it, so you liking me too would be a great help…_

No. No, no, no, no. No. She couldn't- She won't- At best, he'll think she's joking. At worst…

The morning when they had found Harvey's body was still fresh in her memory. The blood, the horribly deformed body of her coworker, the sheer terror or the scene, the ringing in her ears...

But she also remembered how Will had wrapped his hands around her and pulled away, trying to protect her from the horror. And how afterwards, when she woke up from her trance and found herself standing in the middle of the street, he was right behind her, panting, just in his shirt, no coat or jacket, because he had been rushing after her-

Yeah, he had done that, but only because he had been worried for his subordinate and his friend (even if he normally regarded said friend as a menace to society and his well being).

She smiled for herself bitterly.

If he were to take her seriously, she was sure he would accept her confession. He would because that's who he was - a goddamn gentleman who accepts his responsibilities without a complaint, a paragon policeman born to protect and serve. A loyal Lieutenant who takes care of his subordinates.

_Perhaps he would even try and pretend to love her?_

But that would only make things worse for Kym. It would just foster the feelings in her heart, just break it apart from more and more…

She might as well go under the knife.

Yeah, just undergo the surgery and get all those flowers removed, along with all the feelings and memories tied to him. Just a few cuts and a few more stitches and the clock would reverse. There'd be no one-sided love, no crush, they'd be back where they started. Strangers.

_Now, wouldn't that be easy?_

No. It wouldn't.

As much as she disliked to admit it, she did not want to erase all they had been through. Not to mention she did not know how much she'd lose besides that. Would she forget the entire precinct too? And what about La Lune investigation?

Oh, the bloody investigation. That was not helping her health at all. All those weird trying-not-to-be-suspicious stakeouts, the late nights they spent in the office when everyone else was gone... It was terrible and frustrating how close he could get in these moments, how much of her space he would take as he leaned over her shoulder to examine a report, how his voice lowered to dangerous intimate whisper…

In those moments she wished she could just scream at him, just throw all her feelings, all that mushy, tingly stuff into his face, wipe that stupid melancholic look from his eyes with shock and horror-

But there was no time for that.

Will had his own problems. She had her own problems.

_No need to add more to the pile._

Just pretend everything's fine. You can deal with it later.

Yeah, later. Kym liked _later._ Later was good. Later was _great._

But it was not forever - it would catch up to you eventually.

Kym's later lasted three days and eleven hours.

Kym blamed it on that bloody thief and his stupid knife.

They were just on patrol when a scream came out of nowhere and a man dashed across the street holding a handbag clearly not his own. Will and Kym were the closest to the incident, so they gave him a chase immediately. Will actually got to the man first, taking a shortcut to ambush him. He grabbed the man, just as he was vanishing from Kym's sight behind the corner and shoved him against the wall, twisting one hand behind his back. The man cried, but he pushed back. He was bigger than Will and actually managed to push the police officer away. A knife appeared in his right hand and he swung it at Will. The blade narrowly missed Lieutenant's eye and scratched his cheek. Will took a step back, and the man turned to run but froze as he met face to face with the barrel of Kym's gun.

"Don't move," Kym puffed slightly out of breath.

"You're under arrest."

***

"Are you alright, Sergeant?" William asked as they finally got back to the precinct and had a moment for themselves.

Kym grinned.

"I'm not the one who got cut." She pulled out a handkerchief and spat on it.

He grimaced in disgust as she reached to wipe away the blood from his cheek, but he didn't dodge.

"I didn't mean that," he said." You were completely out of breath back then. And you haven't been well for a few days now."

"What? Naaah, I'm fine," she replied.

"Never been better."

"No, you're not." He grabbed her hand still outstretched to his cheek.

"You're sick and it's not getting better."

He had that look in his eyes again, that mildly concerned look he reserved for when someone from his unit got in trouble.

It was so adorable. And so irritating.

And Kym didn't have time for that.

"Oh, common, _mom_ ," she teased him.

"It's nothing serious-"

And it that moment, with the timing of a third-rate comedian a fit of caught overwhelmed her.

Kym leaned over, her hands grabbing's Will's shirt. The blood and flowers sprayed out of her mouth before she could cover it, red and yellow showering both Will and the floor.

Kym stepped back, looking up at Will.

She met with a blank expression, blue eyes staring back at her in shock.

"What is this?" he asked. Even her best pranks couldn't get that sort of expression out of him.

_~~She wished this was a prank.~~ _

Kym forced a laugh.

"Would you look at that?" she said wiping the saliva and blood off her chin. "It seems my love for watermelons has betrayed me. I'm becoming one with the plant."

She winked at Will, but his expression only darkened.

His eyes travelled to the floor then to her mouth then to her eyes again.

He gulped.

"Kym, you have hana-?"

"No!" Kym scut him off, looking around. Luckily no one else could hear them, the hall empty.

"No! It's, it's just watermelon! Yeah! Anyways, it doesn't matter, I'll be fine," she dodged a hand he reached out to her.

"Which reminds me… I'll have to go now, bye!"

And with that she basically fled the scene, her face burning up with guilt and shame.

_Idiot!_

She wasn't sure if that was addressed to him or herself.

Now he'd start asking. And he'd either make her confess or sent her to the hospital.

She wasn't sure which one was worse.

***

Surely enough, the next day Will cornered in the break room first thing in the morning. She was just there for some coffee when he appeared in the door, his figure effectively blocking the door.

"Hi, Willame!" she jolted up, surprised to see him.

"Up for a coffee?"

He shook his head slowly.

"No, I want to talk to you. Yesterday-"

"Oh, yeah, your shirt!” she interrupted him. “Sorry about that! I'll pay for the cleaning. In fact, I can wash for you myself!"

He shook his head again.

"Kym stop avoiding the topic. You have hanahaki."

"Hana- pfft William, you can be so funny. I don't have hanahaki."

"Name one other disease that makes you cough up flowers."

"Eeeeh..."

"Thought so."

"Look, just because I don't know any doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"Really, Ladell?"

Will ran one hand through his hair and leaned against the counter.

"Look, I get you don't want to talk about it but-"

"Then let's not talk about it, alright?" she looked him straight in the eye. She hoped he would understand the message.

_Respect the boundaries. Don't overstep the line. Again._

And he did understand. However, he elected to ignore it.

"I get you don't want to talk about it, " he repeated. "But as your superior officer, I have the duty of care. I don't want one of my best officers to die because of some stupid plant, alright?"

Kym closed her eyes.

She knew what was going to come next. He'd tell her to go for a surgery and-

"So I think you should try confessing to whoever you have crush on."

Kym stared at him.

_Try what now?_

Will looked back at her but then averted his gaze slightly embarrassed.

 _That's right,_ Kym though. _You should feel embarrassed for suggesting I tell you about my feelings here._

"It's just a suggestion. But you should at least try it. It's a safer solution than surgery and even if it doesn't work out… if that other person doesn't reciprocate your feelings you can still go to the hospital. But you cannot do it the other way around."

Kym scoffed.

"Well, it's lovely you think I have a chance, but I think this is a hard pass."

Then a burst of inspiration came to her and she swung back theatrically.

"The watermelon lord will never look at me the same way I look at him."

William's expression darkened.

"Can you stop joking for one minute?" he burst out.

"You have to realize how dangerous this whole thing is! Even if it doesn't kill you it still interferes with your life and work. What if you start coughing up flowers in the middle of the arrest? Or with a finger on the trigger? What if you choke in your sleep?"

He turned to her, full of anger. Kym just glared at him silently. _How dared he?!_ He had **_no_** idea what he was talking about.

At that moment she felt an impulse to just spill all those feelings then and there and let him clean the mess.

Luckily at that point, Lila appeared in the break room, smiling and unaware of the situation.

"Oh, hi Sergeant. Lieutenant," she blushed as she noticed Will.

Kym pushed down the poisonous words that rose in her mouth along with the flowers.

"Hi Lila!" she smiled back and with poorly developed excuse fled the scene once more.

***

And so started the most convoluted game of cops and robbers - with Will in the role of all too nosy cop and Kym in the position of the desperate robber using every possible excuse not to engage in a private conversation with him.

Her ways of evading Will so soon became a running joke across the office. Some officers even started making bets about what she'd pull out next. (Luckily, no one knew what was really going on - Will might have been obnoxious busybody but at least he had the common decency not to blab about her problems to the others.)

_"Kym, can we talk?"_

_"Don't have time right now, sorry. Now Lauren, you were saying..."_

_"Sergeant, can I have a minute?"_

_"Hey, Lila! Do you have a second? Yeah of course you do. Can I ask you something?"_

_"Ladell, a word please."_

_"Gotta run to a toilet, later!"_

_"Kym we need to talk."_

_"Not now. Lukas, you needed something?"_

_"Sergeant."_

_"Would you look at the time! I'm late for my being-yelled-at-session with Hermann."_

_"Sergeant Ladell."_

_"You smell like beef. I hate beef."_

_"Sergeant-"_

_"If you want to talk my hourly wage is thirty thousand for an hour please and thank you."_

_"Ladell!"_

_"Request an audition peasant."_

_"Ky-"_

_"If thou wisheth to speak to us mortal, thou must answer us these riddles three: What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night?"_

_"What?"_

_"Wrong answer, now go jump off a cliff."_

_"L-"_

_"Oh look a bird!"_

_"Wha- and she's gone again."_

  


The irony had it, that when Kym actually failed to escape her the Lieutenant's grasp it did not happen in the office at all.

It was a mistake agreeing to Lila's request to go with the others for a drink at the end of the week. In Kym's defense, she was kind of forced into it by the combination of pure innocent puppy eyes, the prospect of dragging Lauren out for some fun and the possible threat of Lila revealing Kym's secret hide-out in the janitor's closet to Will.

And she did not realize Will would be there too.

Luckily for her, the pub was full that night and a large portion of customers were police officers from their precinct. Even if Will wanted to talk to her, there was too much noise and people.

So, she was fine.

Correction.

She _had been_ fine until someone tried to hit on Lila. That provoked Lukas for some unknown reason and his well-landed punch provoked about half a dozen angry drunk thugs.

The result was an epic fight which Kym had no way of recollecting the next day, but that sure as hell ended up with her in the back of the pub with Will patching her up and possibly attempting to rub as much alcohol into her wounds as possible.

"You shouldn't have tried to fight that guy," he told her as he washed the blood off her face.

"Oh common," Kym rolled her eyes. The fight sobered her up slightly but she still felt a bit warm and fuzzy.

Will narrowed his eyes at a bloody cut on her forehead.

"That might leave a scar," he said.

"You should go to a real doctor with this."

Kym grinned.

"At least we'll match," she said poking the cut in Will's cheek, the thin line still visible.

Will frowned. He was a bit less drunk than her, but he was too not completely sober at this point.

"How do we always find ourselves in these sorts of situations?" he asked.

"You getting hurt and me getting hurt and me treating you and you trying to poison me with your treatment..."

Kym shrugged. Normally she would argue about the poisoning part, but she felt graceful that night.

"Beats me."

They both chuckled.

For a moment they were silent, then Will spoke up again.

"Kym, about that thing from before... I'm sorry," he started slowly before Kym uninterrupted him.

"Great! Apology accepted!"

"No, Kym, wait, I'm not finished."

"But I am. Look, you're sorry, I'm not angry, let's just agree never to talk about this ever again."

He shook his head.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that."

"Why not?" she threw him a side glance.

"You just admitted you were wrong to ask about it!"

"I apologize for being too harsh. But I still value you - as a… a friend and as a police. I know you may say I'm selfish, but I… I don't want to lose you to this illness. I’m not sure why you’re not telling me, but trust me, whatever the problem is, I can handle it. But I cannot handle losing another person I care about to a stupid, easily preventable death."

He looked up at her.

"So please stop pretending it's fine and just tell me who is it. I can try and help you."

Kym felt the flowers rising in her throat again. She had never seen him open up this much. He was always the perfect officer, the role model of the precinct, the golden boy…

_But not now._

She suddenly remembered the sad look he had in his eyes when someone mentioned his mother.

_She was sick too, right? Was this why Kym's sickness worried Will so much?_

_No, Kym, don't let him get to you._

"Even if I told you then what?" she said at last.

"You make this guy fall in love with me? You aren't a bloody fairy godmother. It would be easier if you just sent me to the hospital."

Will went silent for a moment, then he spoke up, his voice quiet.

"Your crush... it was Harvey wasn't it?"

Kym stared at him as if had just pulled a watermelon from his ass.

"What- Harvey? How would you even come up with that?"

"But - I mean - You were devastated when we found the body," Will blabbered out. "And you started developing symptoms right after the funeral... And you said there's no way that other person would reciprocate..."

Kym started laughing.

"So you think I had a crush on Harvey? Noo! Dear God, how are you still with the police?"

"So it's not him?" Will stared back at her, slightly shocked. "But then who is it? That new archivist?"

"Kiki?! Nooo!"

"Then who?"

"Ha! Not telling!" Kym replied, "I told you. It. Won't. Work. A-ny-ways."

Will groaned.

"Geez, Ladell, why won't you tell me who you have a crush on?"

"Well, why won't you tell me who you have a crush on, first?" Kym shot back and looked straight back at him.

_That’s right, buddy, check and mate._

Will looked up at her as if she just shot him.

Then he took a sharp breath.

"Alright then," he said.

Kym blinked at him with surprise.

He agreed.

_He didn't deny he had a crush._

Kym's chest tightened and she almost started coughing again, but she composed herself.

"You cannot lie to me," she said. "Complete honesty or I'm not telling you anything."

"Of course."

"True and nothing else."

"Yes."

"No fake names. I'll know."

"I promise."

"If you lie, I'll kill you."

"Yes."

"Great."

"Perfect."

He dug his hands into his pocket and pulled out a pencil and a small notebook, his movement suddenly erratic and shaky. Kym laughed nervously.

"Alright, you got me." she managed to get out through her tightened throat.

"I was joking."

"I know," he replied through gritted teeth. He tore out two pages from the notebook and handed her one.

"I have not."

He turned his back to her and scribbled something on his piece of paper then he folded it and gave her the pencil as well.

"Write down the name of your crush. We exchange it on three. And we are not leaving until we do this. Now get to work."

Kym sighed but she accepted the pencil.

"Don't look," she warned him as she turned around hovering above the paper protectively.

"Don't worry. I won't," his voice sounded as strained as hers.

Kym looked down on the white paper sheet in her hand.

She felt dizzy again, but she wasn't sure if it was because of the flowers or it was something else.

"Ladell," Will's voice, cold and precise cut through her thoughts.

"Hurry up."

She grasped the pencil.

_Here goes nothing._

She scrambled on the paper and folded it several times.

"Here!" she outstretched her hand to him.

Will took the paper and handed her his.

She took another shaky breath, pushing the petals down her throat.

"I'm ready."

"One, two, three."

She opened the paper.

From the black page, three letters starred back at her.

Three simple letters and Kym wished she had Lauren's ability at that point because she needed to know if this was a lie-

She looked up to meet with Will's glare, furious and on the verge of tears.

"Watermelon?" he choked out.

"Are you serious Ladell?"

He raised the paper as if he wanted to throw it down, but then his hand just fell to his side and his head hung low.

"You realize how serious this illness is, right?" he asked, his voice lower than ever before.

"You are dying, but you still-" he shook his head and laughed bitterly.

"No, it's my fault. I obviously pushed too far."

He stood up, wavering a bit before he regained his balance.

"Tomorrow I want you to check in the hospital," he pointed a finger at her then turned around to leave.

"Will," she stumbled onto her feet, grabbing him by the cuff of his coat.

"You meant it?"

He turned to her. She could see his eyes were red and watery. On verge of crying.

"What I wrote?" he asked. "Yes. As much as I could mean three bloody letters. But it isn't relevant. You seem to have a weird plant-based crush and there's nothing I could do and-"

She burst out laughing. She laughed because the man she had been pining after for a year now just confessed to her in the angriest lest romantic way possible and because she just shot him down without meaning too.

The laughter soon turned into a cough.

The blood and petals splattered across the floor - a mess of happy yellow and morbid red.

"Kym? Kym!" he caught her just as the ground vanished from under her feet.

He smelled of alcohol and smoke and flowers.

_She smelled of blood._

She heard him saying something after that, but then the darkness swallowed her and his voice was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look I know both Will and Kym have a lot of emotional baggage that they need to deal with, but let's put all of that aside so we can watch them suffer from a made up disease.
> 
> ... yeah I'll see myself out.  
> (oh yeah and I forgot - the beef thing is from Sailor J's video How to say NO. That's all.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'd like to say all three of us Will, Kym and I had a talk and we all agreed that
> 
> a) this took way too long  
> b) this was a mistake
> 
> Enjoy.

Kym woke up in a hospital bed. 

The moment she opened her eyes, the doctor's face appeared above her, smiling with relief. 

"Good morning to the happy mother!" he said.

“You gave us quite a scare, missus.”

"What?" Kym frowned at him, but by that point, the nurse appeared beside her bed, a blanket in each hand. 

"It's twins, Miss Ladell!" she exclaimed happily and leaned closer so Kym could see.

Two round watermelons stared at her from the blankets. 

Kym felt her face tearing up. 

"Oh my god…" she whispered. 

"These are mine?"

"Yes, yes, of course!" the nurse laughed.

"It was a difficult labour, but you did it, Miss Ladell!" 

A smile of relief spread across Kym’s face.

"So this was it," she noted when the door burst open and a handsome young man with blonde hair walked into the room.

"Kym, they said you woke up-" he started but as soon as his sight fell on the babies he froze.

"Oh, so it was true," he breathed out and as slowly as if in a dream, he made his way to the side of her bed where fell on his knees his face as teary as Kym's. 

"I'm sorry Kym," he muttered, grasping her hand. 

"I should have believed you when you said it's watermelon. I can't believe how selfish I was. Can you forgive me?"

Kym nodded with a smile, but before she could voice her reply a terrible roar shook the room. The nurse and the doctor exchanged horrified glances. 

"He's here," the nurse whispered. 

Kym looked at her. 

"Who?" 

"The father."

Another deep roar came from the outside, the monstrous father demanding to see his offsprings.

"Quick you must hide, Miss Ladelll!" the nurse took both watermelons and handed them to Kym prompting her out of bed. 

"No, I cannot leave you here!" Kym cried. 

"You have to!" the blond man insisted.

"We'll hold him back."

"No!" Kym protested, but the man put a hand on her shoulder. 

"There's no other option."

He leaned down and gently pressed a kiss on each other the watermelons. Then he looked up at Kym, his eyes radiating terrible deep longing for something Kym couldn't understand. 

"I hope with this you could forgive all that I have bestowed upon you in my selfishness. And if you could spare it in your heart to name one of the kids after me…"

He closed his eyes and turned around unsheathing a sword.

“Farewell.”

The nurse grabbed Kym by the hand pulling her to the secret door. The new mom shouted and kicked in protest, but the nurse was stronger, dragging her away from soon the be slaughter. 

"Nooo!" Kym shouted, reaching a hand to the blonde man. "Don’t do this to me! I don’t even know your name, but I’m sure it’s to dumb to give it to a kiiiid!!!"

Kym sprung up in her bed, eyes snapping open, breath shallow and quick.

"Kym!" Lauren sprung to her side immediately.

“Careful! You just woke up,” she warned her, grabbing her by the hand and helping her sit up properly.

"Oh Laur…" Kym breathed out, eyes dazzled and unfocused.

"My watermelon babies..."

Lauren laughed with surprise.

"Kym, what the hell?" 

"Huh?" 

Kym blinked at her friend as if only now she noticed her and then looked around. 

She was still in a hospital room alright. However, there were no doctors, nurses, handsome blonde heroes or watermelon babies. 

But there was a headache that very quickly demanded her attention.

“Oh god,” Kym grumbled, grabbing her head and flinching when she felt the bandage wrapped around it.

_ Yeah, she got cut,  _ she remembered vaguely.

_ It was pretty serious. _ _Someone told her it might leave a scar... but who?_

_ And when? _

“Hey…” she asked hesitantly looking back at Lauren,” How… how long have I’ve been out?”

“About a day,” Lauren admitted.

“You fainted last night while we were out drinking and have been out since then.”

“Oh,” Kym replied.

“That fight last night must have been worse than I recall.”

Not that she recalled much.

Lauren grimaced.

“Not nearly as bad as the morning after. Turns out the guy who had been hitting on Lila - you know the one Lukas punched - is a son of some important aristocrat. So Hermann called everyone from the precinct who was in the pub last night to chew us up and give us additional paperwork,” she said with a sigh, but then her face darkened as she added.

“But you’re not here because of the fight, you know that, right?”

“I’m not?” Kym replied though she felt she was less surprised by the fact than she should have been.

Lauren furrowed her brows.

“You don’t remember?”

Kym hesitated.

“Well, I remember going for a drink with you, Lila and the others… and I remember the start of the fight...,” she narrowed her eyes. It was as if the headache was forming a barrier in her mind preventing her from seeing further.

“And then it’s all fuzzy,” she admitted.

Lauren sighed and nodded.

“I see,” she said.

“Kym you passed out because of your hanahaki. I wasn’t there but you apparently had a very bad fit of cough, vomited flowers and then fainted."

“Ouch,” Kym let her hands fall from her forehead to her throat and her chest.

Yes, her throat still stung a bit, but breathing was significantly easier, and the everpresent shivering of leaves in the back of her throat she got used to wasn't there anymore. 

She looked up to meet with Lauren’s steel-like gaze. 

_ Uh-oh. Here comes the talk. _

Lauren took a deep breath.

“Kym, why haven’t you told me you had hanahaki?”

“Sorry, I...” Kym stumbled across her words, “I didn’t want to worry you. You were always so stressed out, never sleeping, so I didn’t want to add more...”

“So you decided to keep it a secret until one day you pass out for good!?” Lauren burst out, but the expression quickly melted from one of pure anger to genuine concern.

“Kym, I know you meant well, but do you have any idea how you scared us - I mean all of us - me your parents, Will…”

Kym only sighed at the mention of his name. Oh, yes, the poor goody-two-shoes Willame. 

Willame.

_ WILL. _

At that moment it hit her. Last night at the back of the pub. Willame tending her scar, her joking about them matching, him asking if she had a crush on Harvey, her laughing at the idea, him insisting on helping her like the cute devoted puppy he was, her turning it back on him asking about his crush, his solemn nod over gritted teeth, two pieces of paper and one pencil... _One two three-_

_ You. _

“Oh, sweet watermelon Jesus,” she mumbled and then turned to Lauren.

“Where’s Will now?”

***

Will marched through the hospital, the click of his boots echoing through the empty halls. His pace was quick but even, his breathing calm, his face politely expressionless. That was because he was fine. He was handling it.

Or so he was trying to tell himself all the while ignoring how tightly his right hand squeezed at the envelope with paperwork from Hermann, or how another - invisible one - clutched on his heart. 

His head was still ringing from the events of last night, all the memories playing on repeat. Kym’s laughter as it turned into a choking cough. Her body both weightless and heavy in his arms, the air filled with the scent of blood and silent prayers to any god or saint that would listen…

And before that, her eyes fixed on him, her hands tugging his sleeve.

_ You meant it? _

_ You meant it? _

_ You...? _

Of course, he meant it. He didn’t know why or how it happened, but somewhere in between her absurd pranks and their endless bickering, he found himself caring for the chaotic mess that was Kym Ladell in ways that went far beyond the usual feelings of friendship of comradery. Not that he ever planned to tell her - not until the last night. For him, Kym was in every sense of the word a wild force of nature, unpredictable, untamed, even scary at times. She came to his life without a warning, she did what she wanted to and when she wanted to, not looking left or right, singular determination, she always pushed forward, bright and restless yet kind in the most surprising of moments and so breathtakingly beautiful especially when no one was watching.

And he was fine with her being just her friend. 

_ (Afterall, what mortal man could survive a storm loving him back?) _

And when he found out she had hanahaki- he would lie if he claimed his interest in her illness was purely professional, or that he wanted to know in who she was in love with was just out of curiosity. He needed to know who would someone like her fall in love with. What were they like?

_ And why didn't they like her back?  _

Not his wildest dream he would imagine the object of her affection was… Oh god, but she could have died!

She could have died and she still insisted on acting like it was nothing that stubborn foolish moron…

He couldn’t even begin to describe the feelings that overwhelmed him when the doctor came out of the surgical suite and told him she was fine.

There was just too much. _Relief, happiness, surprise, confusion…_

_ How?  _ he recalled asking rather dully. There wasn’t an easy way out of hanahaki as there?

The doctor only shook her head.

_ It seems the flowers went their natural way, _ she said. Y _ou should know - aren’t you the one who that young lady is in love with?_

He took a step back. _Him? But she-_

_ She got a fit when I confessed to her - that shouldn’t be normal… _

_ Oh no, it is, on the contrary, _ the doctor replied. _If the infected finds out their love is reciprocated, the flowers have no unrequited feelings to hatch onto and so the body is trying to get rid of them as soon as possible. Stuff like this happens quite often…_

_ Yeah, surely… That makes sense. Thank you, doctor. _

_ You're welcome. But honestly, she must have quite a crush she even passed out… Really young people there days… more stubborn than a mule... _

Will didn’t even recall what happened afterwards - how he got home, how he got changed or how Hermann called him in...

The next day in work was better - mainly because the paperwork distracted him.

But then the same paperwork betrayed him and now he was back here in the hospital, unsure whether he should even see her. 

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to. His whole body screamed at him to go check if she’s alright, his heart pleaded for him to see her again, his mind demanded she would answer all of the questions that arose in the past few hours.

But he knew that would be too much.

She was still recovering.

Still needed rest. 

And he needed some sleep.

And the time to think.

He paused in front of the door to her room and took a deep breath.

_ Alright.  _

Just drop off the papers, ask how she’s doing.

Check if she’s fine, but don’t overwhelm her.

_ Keep it brief. Keep it professional. _

With a bit of luck, she’d be asleep anyways and he could just leave the papers there with a note.

He knocked softly.

“Come in!” a voice came from the inside.

She was awake. 

Oh -

_ No, it will be fine. You will handle it. _

Will squeezed the handle and opened the door.

Kym was sitting on her bed, back supported by several large pillows. When she noticed it was him, her eyes widened slightly and she sprung up a little.

“Oh it’s you, Willame!” she squealed out.

“How nice of you to come to visit! Lauren actually just left, you must have missed her.”

She spoke in a light-hearted tone, but he noticed how strained her voice still sounded and how her hands squeezed the bedsheets beside her. 

Her eyes were almost as wide as the previous night when she clung to him, moments before the disaster struck.

_ Did you mean it? _

All those questions he wanted to ask hurled forwards in his mind.

_ How are you feeling? _

_ Does it still hurt? _

_ Can you breathe properly? _

_ Do you still have fits? _

_ Did you eat? _

_ Why didn’t you tell me? _

_ Is being in love with me really that horrifying you would rather die? _

_ Why didn’t you go for the surgery either? _

“I see you’re awake already,” that’s all he got out.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Oh, hmmm, yeah!” Kym nodded with a strained smile.

“Much better now thanks. The doctors said they needed to keep me here for a few days though. Something about the lungs needing to heal properly and such…" She stretched out yawning.

“Well, at least I avoided some major paperwork today. Or so I heard.”

Will sighed.

“Not really,” he said raising the envelope into the air.

“Hermann sends this.”

Kym’s face cracked into a painful grimace.

“Not even in the hospital bed they leave you alone,” she groaned.

“Really, the man should learn that sick people get flowers… alright, flowers might not be the best choice in this case,” she hastily added.

“But what about watermelons!”

Will winced at her words. She still found ways to get under his skin even from the hospital bed.

“I see you’re all better now that you can joke about stuff like that,” he remarked, but immediately stopped himself as a painful shadow crossed her face. He cursed under his breath. _Shit and they were falling back to their old banter just fine._

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-,” he began, but Kym quickly cut him off, raising her hands in the air.

“No, I know! I’m sorry!” she called out at first with humour in her voice, but then she looked at him with utter seriousness.

”I _am_ really sorry,” she repeated, “ I need you to know that. For everything – for all your shirts I ruined. And for causing you all this trouble. And for lying when you asked who my crush is…and avoiding you and thus stalling the whole Lune investigation…” she hesitated, “Alright, I’m not sorry about that one. Hermann was a fool for setting us up for that mission. But… for everything else I am sorry and I get if you're angry right now!”

She stumbled out of her bed.

“Hey wait-!” he reached out to stop her but paused as she made a proper police-like bow so deep she almost doubled over.

“So I Kym Ladell,” she said in utter seriousness her eyes fixed on the ground,” will humbly accept any form of punishment you’ll give me. Tell on me to Hermann, demote me, make me do your paperwork for the rest of the year. You can even push through with that ban on watermelons in the office and I won’t complain-“

She hesitated.

“Well, maybe a little, but not too much.”

She waited for a moment, but no response came back. She glanced up daring to sneak a peek at his figure. He looked really haggard, she realized. It wasn’t as obvious as with Lauren - it never had been, Will had always taken care of his appearance - but she could see it clearly now they were this close. The bags under his eyes masked with makeup, the tie knot just slightly askew, his hair messier than usual… He must have been falling into the bad habit of running his hand over them when he got overwhelmed again, she thought and that alone made her throat dry up again.

“And Just so you know...” she started again but then stumbled upon her words. And there she thought talking to him without flowers would be easier. Well, who was she kidding - talking to him honestly was never easy. “ It’s not only to say sorry. But also to thank you. For bringing me to the hospital… and for saving me, that is.”

She straightened up, their eyes meeting - midday sky and the sun. Water and the desert sand. Ocean and two stars.

For a moment neither of them moved. Then finally, Will’s carefully crafted mask of the golden boy started cracking, the emotions - or at least hints of them - tugging on the corners of his lips, as he took a step closer to her.

“Well, What about a hug?” he asked so quietly she almost didn’t catch it.

The sudden relief brought up a smile on her face.

“Sure.”

He half-sighed half-chuckled again and stepped even closer, letting his head fall on her shoulder and his hands not as much wrap as carefully fell around her torso.

“You’ll really be the death of me,” he mumbled under his breath, his forehead resting on the crook of her neck.

Kym grinned in relief as she reached out to pat his back.

“As someone who almost choked up on watermelon flowers because of you I’d say that would make us equal,” she quipped.

She felt his breath pausing for a second, possibly surprised by the confession. She herself got surprised how quickly she admitted to her crime. But then again, he knew already.

“You know you could have said something,” he said.

“And so could you,” Kym tried to defend herself.

“I didn’t know how you felt. And I wasn’t dying from it.”

He pulled back a bit and took a good look at her face, taking her all in. His eyes looked so gentle but also hurt right now. Vulnerable.

“Was being in love with me really that bad you’d rather die?” he asked.

“What? No!” Kym protested before she realized what she was saying.

“That’s not it,” she said now more hesitantly and sat down on the bed, “but... I didn’t think you’d reciprocate anyways. So I didn’t see a point in giving you another thing to handle.”

“So you decided you’d rather die?”

“You sound like Lauren right now.”

“Oh really?” Will asked putting the envelope on the nightstand and sitting down on the bed next to her. “How did she take all of this? When she learnt about it, she seemed dead set on murdering at least one of us.”

Kym shrugged.

“I got yelled at for being an idiot - but I also got a massive rib-breaking hug so it evens out.”

“Well, she had every right to call you that - you were an idiot.”

Kym chuckled.

“Well, now I’m your idiot.”

“Are you now?” Will asked playfully.

Kym paused for a moment,

“Well, I'm in your hands,” she said at last, “after all you and your lame confession did save my life.”

Will raised a brow at her.

“Whose confession are you calling lame?”

“Ugh, yours?”

“It saved your life.”

Kym raised her hands in the air defensively.

“Yes, I just said that. And I acknowledge this fact and thank thee for it, m’lord. But I also acknowledge that exchanging notes with names of your crushes with someone sounds like something you do in girls bathrooms in middle school.”

“But that was your idea.”

“Nah, it wasn’t.”

“Yes, it was.”

“No, it wasn’t! You pulled out the paper and the pen!”

“Yes, but you suggested I tell you who my crush is. Remember?”

“To shut you up! I thought you’d be too embarrassed. Or that you didn’t have anyone. How was I supposed to know you - and I-”

“So now you are at a loss of words?”

“Shut up, idiot!”

“Well, I guess it takes one to know one.”

“Don't you-”

“Hey, keep it down!” a nurse popped into the door shushing them.

“This is a hospital.”

They both shut up in an instant, Will turning to the door apologetically.

“Oh, I’m sorry ma’am,” he said with a smile.

“We’ll try to stay quiet.”

The nurse just frowned at him and then vanished without any response.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Will glanced back at Kym. Corner's of Kym's lips irked up subconsciously and the next moment they both broke into a burst of muffled laughter, falling down on their back on the bed.

Kym turned to Will, his figure a bit smudged as her eyes teared up from laughter.

It felt good to laugh so close to him and not feel the petals crawling up her throat, she realized.

And it felt good to see him laugh openly. 

“So,” she asked in mocking whisper leaning closer to him as soon as they calmed down.

“What now?”

Will turned to her too, looking down on at her face, but still not high enough to meet her eyes, his eyes dangling around her lips.

“Not sure,” he half-whispered, half sighed. His breath tickled Kym's face.

“I suppose..,” he licked his lips nervously.

“Well. We should consider our situation first.”

He sat up and run a hand through his hair.

“Hermann is still pissed about all the antics you pulled off in the last few days and he wasn’t happy about your hospitalization either - though he has no idea why you’re here just yet. Either way, I don’t think he’ll be fine with us officially dating. And besides that, there’s the fact that I’m technically your direct superior, so the whole thing should go to the HR first...”

His stream of words got suddenly interrupted by Kym’s exhausted groan as she rose up and grabbed his face in both of her hands.

“Will, stop!” she pulled his face so close their noses were almost touching and looked him straight in the eye. “I just confessed to you, and you ruin the moment by talking about Hermann and paperwork!”

Will gave her an unimpressed look- an expression bizarrely twisted by how Kym’s hands were squishing his face.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” he said, removing her hands from his face, “but you ruined my confession by throwing up all over me and passing out in the back of a pub. Also, you still didn’t confess anything.”

Kym snickered.

“Common Williamme, isn’t the fact that I just told you you can ban watermelon from the office a good enough of a proof of my affection? Or y’know the fact I almost suffocated in my love for you?”

“I thought the watermelon ban was supposed to be an apology and a thank you gift."

“That too. Three in one. Take it before I change my mind.”

Will rolled his eyes at her but he couldn’t stop the smile curling up his lips. 

“As if you ever meant to keep that promise.”

Kym frowned in mocking anger.

“How dare you, Willlame! I mean yes it would shatter my heart, but I gave my word and as a knight of honour, I never back down on it!” 

Will glanced at her. She spoke up with a serious face, but the small glint of mischief in her eyes betrayed her.

“Let me guess…" he asked," You’d just move yourself to a break room or some other place that doesn’t have a ban there.”

Kym took a deep breath puffing her cheeks.

"Willamme, you insolent-,” she started out angrily but then looked to the side in sudden realization, “y’know, that's a great idea actually."

Will sighed. Should have kept his mouth shut. 

"Kym, please." 

Kym raised her hands in the air. 

"Look, I love you Willame, but watermelons are watermelons!" she exclaimed carelessly.

Something glinted in Will's eyes, and he opened his mouth to reply when the door swung open again, and this time the doctor and the nurse from before walked in.

“Good evening, Miss Ladell!” the doctor announced.

“And to your handsome visitor. Though I’m afraid the visiting hours are over and we still need to do some check-ups.”

“Oh sure,” Will stood up, then but hesitated and turned to Kym. Neither of them noticed when but their hand intertwined and now she was holding onto the cuff of his coat, just like the night before.

“Good night Kym,” he told her, grabbing and squeezing her hand one last time.

“Thanks, you too,” she replied suddenly all shy in front of newcomers.

“And don’t forget to bring gifts!” she shouted after him, once he was in the doorway.

He paused again.

“Only if you finish the paperwork,” he pointed at the envelope on her nightstand.

Kym rolled her eyes but then nodded reluctantly.

Will grinned like a cat that got his cream.

“Well, later!” he repeated and vanished behind the door.

“Later!” Kym replied before the doctor approached her now demanding her full attention.

And for once, all of a sudden, _later_ couldn’t come soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi dear reader!  
> Sorry this took a while.  
> Special thanks to [ Monica_Tailor ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monica_Tailor), [ Missterryrighter ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missterryrighter) for listening to my minor wirting meltdowns and offering suggestions and also to [ baker_and_fangirl ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/baker_and_fangirl) for encouraing me over the course of writing.  
> Adn to all other dear readers, thanks for reading and I hope you liked it and/or wasn't too severely disappointed at least.  
> Have a nice day and may the angels always look over you!


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